Craig Bellamy could be set to return to haunt his boyhood club after Kenny Dalglish revealed the forward should be fit in time for this weekend’s Carling Cup final against Cardiff.

The proud Welshman will return to training this week after missing the 6-1 FA Cup hammering of Brighton through injury and Bellamy will now be hoping to earn his place in the starting line-up for this weekend’s trip to Wembley where he would line-up against his former club.

Dalglish confirmed Bellamy, along with Daniel Agger, had been struggling with injury but there were no real dangers of the duo missing the season’s first chance of silverware. Those placing a football bet should remember this.

“We had a couple of injuries on Friday and Saturday with Bellers and Daniel Agger,” the Scot told Liverpool’s official website.

“We’ll have to see how they are but they should be alright, I think.”

Cardiff will be well aware of the dangers posed by Bellamy, after the striker’s loan spell at the club he supported as a boy during last season. While he failed to lead the Welsh club into the Premiership, Bellamy cemented his place as a legend in the eyes of the Cardiff fans. People using betting.betfair.com need to bear this in mind.

That may change, somewhat, should the striker now go on to score a hat-trick this weekend, something he has certainly looked capable of after rejoining Liverpool in the summer. Despite a series of niggling injuries, Bellamy has looked back to his best at times so far this season and the Welshman looks set to play a major role in Liverpool’s critical end of season run-in.

Agger’s return to action could see the recently returned Jamie Carragher drop back to the bench when Dalglish names the starting 11 for this weekend’s clash, in what could well be the veteran defender’s final chance of playing at Wembley.

Ernie Els is a three-time golf Major winner and one of the most recognisable faces in the game, but despite the 42-year-old has to qualify for the US Masters this time around, he is using that as motivation for success.

Every year since the South African made his debut at Augusta in 1994 he has been given automatic qualification, however a poor run of recent form means ‘The Big Easy’ is outside the world’s top 50 and needs to qualify for the 2012 running. Anyone following the golf betting tips will know this.

Els has won the US Open twice and the British Open once, but has never quite managed to pass the finishing post at the US Masters, with two second placed finishes – in 2000 and 2004 – the best to show.

The veteran admits he has got “some work” to do to get into the US Masters but he will keep fighting in tournaments around the globe in the coming weeks as he looks to book his place. The US Masters Betting Odds suggest he is something of an outsider though.

He reckons his form is looking good and giving him a “good chance of getting in” as Els is confident he can rediscover past glories and compete for the Major titles once again, with the US Masters a real motivation for him.

“I think I’m close to getting back to that and playing the way I can play and I think if I do that the rest will take care of itself,” said Els.

“I’m still a professional golfer and I still want to win golf tournaments this year and in the future.”

The 2012 US Masters is scheduled for April 4th-8th at Augusta National Golf Club and the defending champion this time around will be Els compatriot in the shape of South Africa’s Charl Schwartzel.

One of the big blows for the Cheltenham Festival this year is the exclusion of the 2010 Foxhunter Chase winner Baby Run who won’t be able to try and regain the prize he won two years ago after picking up a leg injury that has ruled him out for the rest of the season.

Following the withdrawal of the Nigel-Twiston-Davies trainer 11-year old, all the money has come for Backstage who is at the top of the market for the 3m2f contest for amateur riders only around the same course as the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The Gordon Elliott-trained backstage finished 10th in the Grand National last year, but has won all six of his point-to-point races in this campaign and those looking at the Cheltenham Festival betting should remember this.

Chapoturgeon’s chances in the Foxhunter Chase were enhanced when he won at Newbury last month over 2m6f. The seven-year old ran at the Festival in 2011 in the Byrne Group Plate where he came home seventh under jockey Timmy Murphy.

Salsify established himself as a leading playing going into the Festival following his win at Leopardstown on Sunday in the Raymond Smith Memorial Hunters Chase. Edna Bolger’s On The Fringe was behind the seven-year old in third place as they crossed the line on Good to Soft ground at the Irish track. People planning to bet on Horse racing at Betfair.com need to bear this in mind.

Monkerty Tunkerty made his chase debut for trainer Jessica Westwood last month at Warwick and showed what a prospect he was with an easy 11-length victory. The gelding has raced 11 times in point-to-point races but lacks experience in rules races. The nine-year old initially started his career over hurdles at Wetherby but connections decided against any further races over sticks following his disappointing run.

Big Bucks’ win in the Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham last month brought up his 15th consecutive victory over hurdles and is now one win away from the all time record set by Sir Ken in the 1950s.

The nine-year old will next be seen at the Cheltenham Festival in March in the World Hurdle where he is bidding for his fourth success in a race he has dominated in recent years. Those betting on 2012 Cheltenham action will have to think long and hard about opposing him.

In 2011, the Paul Nicholls-trained distance hurdler, faced his toughest test of his career against the promising Grand Crus who could run in the Cheltenham Gold Cup this season. Big Bucks rose to the challenge and defied David Pipe’s mount at the Festival and then again at the Grand National meeting a month later.

The challenge this year is likely to come from Oscar Whisky who has won on his last two visits at Cheltenham for Nicky Henderson. The seven-year old finished third in the Champion Hurdle at the Festival last season but connections have decided to step their runner up in trip this time around and anyone looking at Betfair cheltenham racing needs to remember this.

Dynaste forced the best from Big Bucks on Cheltenham Trials Day at Prestbury Park and will get another opportunity against the defending champion next month, whilst Willie Mullins’ best chance in the World Hurdle this year is Thousand Star.

The talented grey finished third in the Irish Champion Hurdle last month and has already ran three times this season. Ruby Walsh has been Thousand Star’s regular jockey in the past but will unsurprisingly ride Big Bucks once again in the World Hurdle with Paul Townend expected to pick up the ride on the French-bred horse.

Lee Westwood has made a solid start to his 2012 season so confidence could be high that he finally break’s his Major duck at the US Masters in April.

The Englishman sits third in the world golf rankings behind countryman Luke Donald and the US Open champion Rory McIlroy, two likely Ryder Cup colleagues who will be out to pip Westwood to that green jacket.

Westwood has struggled when it comes to the four Majors and throughout his long and distinguished career and two second-place finishes, at the US Masters in and The Open in 2010, are the best he has to show. Those looking at the US Masters betting will be wondering if he can push on.

The 38-year-old has started this year in a solid but uninspiring fashion, finishing 17th at the Abu Dhabi Championship and tied for 12th at the Qatar Masters, so he is looking to really spark into life in the coming weeks.

Westwood seems content with his driving, admitting he is hitting the ball “a lot better” than at this point in the season in previous years, and is looking to improve his short game to put him in best condition for April’s US Masters. http://betting.betfair.com/golf/

“My putts are quite nice, I’m starting to roll a few longer ones in, but it’s just been early-season sloppiness really, making too many bogeys and not making a birdie when I should,” he said.

“My wedge shots also haven’t been quite as sharp as they ought to have been.”

The 2012 US Masters is scheduled for April 4th-8th at Augusta National Golf Club and Westwood will be among a group of leading Europeans looking to cross the Atlantic and beat the Americans in their own back yard.

Vendor has only had one start in the UK but did enough to impress with his win Newbury to be priced up at the top of the market for the Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival this year.

The French import in the Alan King yard scored when going off 4/5 favourite in December with Wayne Hutchinson in the saddle for his debut on these shores and people following the Cheltenham racing tips will have been very impressed.

Hinterland failed to live up to the early promise he showed when winning the JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial at Cheltenham in November. In his next start he was turned over at 2/7 favourite by Baby Mix who scored by seven lengths at Prestbury Park. The Fred Winter Juvenile Novices’ Handicap Hurdle does look a more realistic target now for Paul Nicholls’ four-year old rather than the Triumph Hurdle next month and anyone looking at the Betfair betting should remember this.

Another runner from the Nicholls’ yard who is prominent in the betting for the Fred Winter is Dildar. The gelding has been seen just once in the UK, that was at Taunton on January 31 where he scored after going off at 8/15. Although it looked a weak race to make his debut, he was given a soft ride by jockey Ruby Walsh which suggested there could be more to come from this four-year old.

Donald McCain’s best mount in the Fred Winter this year looks to be Hollow Tree. He finished third recently at Cheltenham in a JCB Triumph Hurdle Trial behind Grameti and Pearl Swan. He does though, have two wins under his belt this season over hurdles, those came at Ffos Lass and Chepstow respectively.

Nobody could argue that Italy are playing magnificent, stylish, or stunning rugby at the moment, and nobody could argue that they possess players capable of rivalling those belonging to the likes of Wales or the French, but their performance against France at the weekend was far from an embarrassment, and a display that, far from leaving pundits mocking them, left neutrals wondering which team will eventually pick up the dreaded wooden spoon this year.

Italy know that if they want to avoid this dreaded fate, they’ll need to start putting together a run of victories, while proving that they have absolutely nothing to fear against some of the toughest teams in the world, starting with their next opponents, England. Those looking at the Betfair Betting on Six Nations need to bear this in mind.

OK, so England aren’t the England team of old, capable of destroying teams with the power of the forwards and the accurate kicking of legend Jonny Wilkinson, but this England team has hope in its favour, and is beginning to build up its levels of self-belief despite playing in traditionally hostile environments such as Murrayfield. Ultimately, though, Italy need to remember that they’re taking on a team with a manager at the helm who has practically no experience at the top level of the game and is certainly not immune to making mistakes. Fans of the Betfair rugby betting website should remember this.

If Italy do manage to pull off the unthinkable, England could well be left struggling in the latter stages of the tournament while Italy hand themselves the best chance possible of staying firmly in the mix to finish fourth or fifth in the final standings, rather than securing their status as the usual whipping boys of the sport.

Manchester as a city has enjoyed a stunning year in the Premier League, but both Manchester United and Manchester City have managed to make a real mess of the domestic Cup competitions this year (oh, and the Champions League as well..!).

Although the FA Cup at the start of the season probably wouldn’t have been high up on the list of priorities for either side, there is no doubting the fact that both teams would still have liked to be fighting it out in a Cup competition, with the FA Cup a tournament with a massive global audience and one with an especially large following in Asia and North America. With both clubs desperate to carry on building upon their following before cashing in on support around the globe, something that is vital as the new financial fair play rules come into force, you can see why Cup involvement is so important to big teams in this country. Fans of Betfair will know all about this.

However, that said, the real loser here is not City, and it’s not United; it’s the FA, who are still looking to find a way to increase the viewing figures and attendances at games, while shrugging off competition from other sports vying for supremacy in England. The fact that two of the favourites in the FA Cup betting are out already will only hurt the competition.

If the remaining Cup ties are damp squibs, then the managers and chief executives at the FA are going to feel enraged at the fact that two of the prize assets in the game have crashed out of the competition so early on, hurting the brand of the FA Cup.

With the FA still looking to pay for big money investments, they’ll need to find a way to ensure that next year both clubs stay in until the latter rounds of the competition.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls’ exciting hurdler Zarkandar has been confirmed a definite runner at Newbury on February 11 in the richly endowed Betfair Hurdle (the race formerly known at the Totesport Trophy), a contest that will be key to his preparation for the Stan James Champion Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival just four weeks later, writes Elliot Slater.

The leading juvenile hurdler of last season has not been seen in action so far this term and time is running out for Nicholls to have the half-brother to the mighty Zarkava ready and at the top of his game for the two-mile championship, the glittering highlight on the opening day of the four-day racing extravaganza at Cheltenham on March 13. The son of Azamour has been given plenty of time to recover from last season’s exertions where, (after joining Nicholls from his native France), he won all three starts over timber, beginning in Grade 2 company at Kempton in February and making a tremendous impression in beating the useful Molotof by two-lengths.

Stepped up immediately to the Grade 1 JCB Triumph Hurdle, Zarkandar put his Flat speed to good use in the 23-runner field to beat the classy Unaccompanied by two-lengths, then completed a brilliant hattrick by going on to Aintree three weeks later where he proved a length-and-a-quarter too smart for Alan King’s Kumbeshwar in the Grade 1 Matalan Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle. Fans of Betfair horse racing should bear this in mind.

With his stable companion Brampour set to carry top weight of 11st 12lbs at Newbury, Zarkandar will race off 11st 1lb and has long been the one the bookies fear for the big race. Despite the tremendously competitive nature of the contest Nicholls’ charge is a top priced 10/3 favourite for the Betfair Hurdle, and should he put up a bold show his current odds of 8/1 for the Champion Hurdle will surely not last long at all.

Yarmouth staged an impressive evening of racing as the track hosted the second round of the Betdaq Premier League – which saw Imperial Rock Its take the lead in the campaign as it heads to Doncaster. The Mark Wallis-trained Benkaat Blue continued the momentum he had built up during the first round and now looks it great shape to go on and win the event.

It was Dixies Air, who went into the opening leg playing the joker for Imperial Rock Its, started the evening off well for Wallis, coming home to claim the Puppies win in a comprehensive 27.79 seconds.

The Sprinter’s leg was next up and it was the untouchable Lenson Mac who produced a stunning 16.61-second victory for trainer Tony Collett, pipping Crown Striker at the end to bring home the win. Those following the Greyhound betting will have been very impressed.

The third leg saw the runners line up over 462 meters and it was Liz McNair’s King Jaffa who picked up his second victory at Yarmouth in two weeks, coming in for the win in a time of 27.81 seconds. Anyone looking at the betting odds will be keeping an eye on him.

The Stayers leg was stopped on safety grounds just before the sixth bend. With Matt Dartnall’s Ballymac Pet leading, Miss Magpie sustained an injury and began running back towards the pack, putting the other runners in danger of a collision. All runners received the 3.5 points for their Premier League campaign, with double for the joker.

The second Standard race closed the evening’s activities – the Dunham Devils notching up their third victory of the night after Kelly Findlay’s Local Dee Jay claimed the joker to close the gap between themselves and the top of the Premier League table.